Pro Gaming with Intel® Optane™ Memory

Processor and Memory Combine to Give Gamers a Boost

Isaac Charles5, aka “Boombox,” knows well that supercharged feeling of competing in a live game for the first time on an upgraded desktop computer.

Isaac Charles5, aka “Boombox,” knows well that supercharged feeling of competing in a live game for the first time on an upgraded desktop computer.

Highlights

A computer with Intel® Optane™ memory allows entire game collections installed on a slower, large capacity hard disk drive (HDD) to play at SSD-like speed

Intel testing shows games can launch up to 98 percent faster23 and game levels can load up to 4.1x24 faster on desktops powered by 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor with Intel® Optane™ memory vs. the same system without Intel® Optane™ memory

Notebook systems powered by an 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor and Intel® Optane™ memory vs. non-Intel® Optane™ memory-based systems equipped with only a hard drive for storage showed games launch up to 2.9x faster26 and game levels load up to 4.7x faster27 off the data drive

“Once we switched to 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processors, suddenly we had all the FPS (frame per second) we needed,” said the 20-year-old member of the Overwatch* League’s Philadelphia Fusion team. “Soon, we’ll get Intel® Optane™ memory into our systems, for way faster loading times, and the gameplay will get even smoother."

Desktop and notebook computers that combine 8th Generation Intel® Core™ processors with Intel® Optane™ memory give gamers like Boombox performance for smooth gameplay at high settings, and launch games and load game level faster than similar systems without Intel® Optane™ memory.

Boost from Intel® Optane™ Memory
Intel® Optane™ memory is a smart, adaptable system accelerator that speeds responsiveness by preloading and accelerating access to frequently used applications and files. It remembers those things even after the system is turned off.

Some new games take up to 90 or more gigabytes of storage space, limiting the number of games that can fit on small but fast solid state drives (SSD). A computer with Intel® Optane™ memory allows game collections installed on a slower, large capacity hard disk drive (HDD) to play at SSD-like speed. This eliminates the need of swapping large game files from smaller SSDs in order to get the best gameplay performance.

A computer with Intel® Optane™ memory allows entire game collections installed on a slower, large capacity hard disk drive(HDD) to play at SSD-like speed.

Intel testing shows games can launch up to 98 percent faster23 and game levels can load up to 4.1X faster24 on desktops powered by 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor with Intel® Optane™ memory vs. the same system without Intel® Optane™ memory.

Similarly, Intel testing of notebook systems powered by an 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor and Intel® Optane™ memory vs. non-Intel® Optane™ memory-based systems equipped with only a hard drive for storage showed games launch up to 2.9X faster26 and game levels load up to 4.7X faster27 off the data drive.

Rather than pay to step up from 8 GB to 16 GB or more of system memory (RAM), a user might only install 8GB and then add 32 GB of Intel® Optane™ memory. Intel® Optane™ memory can deliver more performance benefits in game loading and other applications, allowing data to remain in Intel® Optane™ memory rather than filling the DRAM.

Performance to Up Your Game
“System performance matters so much,” said Josue “Eqo” Corona8, who left Israel last year to play for the Philadelphia Fusion team.

He had an Intel® Core™ i3 processor and said it wasn’t powerful enough for Overwatch.

“My aim wasn’t smooth and nothing felt right,” he said. “Things like that give you a huge disadvantage against other players and can impact your career.”

Recently he upgraded to an 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor.

“I started to hit more shots and improved a lot,” he said. “There was nothing stopping me from having that ‘mind connection’ to the game, so I know that if I move my mouse to a spot, it’s going to react how I want. That’s where having a strong processor matters. And if I die and need to respawn, my teammates can’t afford to wait for me.”

Gamers who need smooth gameplay at high settings, and the ability to launch games and load game levels faster get the performance they need from desktop and laptop systems powered by 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors featuring Intel® Optane™ memory.

Product and Performance Information

1

Intel® technologies' features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No product or component can be absolutely secure. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer or learn more at https://www.intel.co.uk.

2

The benchmark results reported above may need to be revised as additional testing is conducted. The results depend on the specific platform configurations and workloads utilized in the testing, and may not be applicable to any particular user’s components, computer system or workloads. The results are not necessarily representative of other benchmarks and other benchmark results may show greater or lesser impact from mitigations.

3

Performance results are based on testing as of March, 12, 2018, and may not reflect all publicly available security updates. See configuration disclosure for details. No product can be absolutely secure.

Performance results are based on testing as of March, 12, 2018, and may not reflect all publicly available security updates. See configuration disclosure for details. No product can be absolutely secure.

Isaac Charles has a pre-existing relationship with Intel and has been compensated with product or payment for reviews of Intel® product.

6

Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel® microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark* and MobileMark*, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more complete information about performance and benchmark results, visit http://www.intel.co.uk/benchmarks.

Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel® microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark* and MobileMark*, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more complete information about performance and benchmark results, visit http://www.intel.co.uk/benchmarks.